Timmins has changed over the years. But one iconic business has been a landmark for generations.
The Pine Dairy Bar first started serving up frozen treats 70 years ago. While it is famous locally for ice cream, there is a lot more going on there now in the 21st century. Customers can enjoy freshly made burgers, fries and other fast-food favourites. Plus, there are also desserts perfect for any celebration — their ice cream cakes.
“The Pine Dairy Bar has been open since 1952,” said Anne-Marie DeGrammont, Pine Dairy Bar manager. “We start with ice cream, that’s for sure.
“The food is all homemade, the most we can. Our specialty is the ice cream cake. We have a lot of customers for ice cream cakes.”
Dany Pelletier bought the iconic business in 2012, and marked his 10th anniversary with it in June.
DeGrammont has worked at the Pine Dairy Bar for the past decade.
While it's known for its ice cream, it also serves up great food.
“We have lots of food. And it’s made fresh every day,” DeGrammont said. “Every day we have fresh fries, peeled and cut. Every day we have fresh bacon. Chili, we do it here, not frozen. It takes longer, but it’s worth it. We spice our own burgers. Patties are made fresh every day. We make the gravy every day.
“Everything we can do fresh, we do. Chicken nuggets, we do buy frozen.”
A number of menu items are named to match Pine Dairy Bar’s popular 1950s décor.
In addition to the original hamburger and cheeseburger, there is the Route 66 Burger, topped with Swiss cheese, grilled onions and mayo. There is the Marilyn Monroe, a bacon cheeseburger. There is a Texas burger, with bacon, cheese, caramelized onions, barbecue sauce and the works. Or a Mexi-chili Burger with chili, shredded cheese and chopped onions.
If you are really hungry, try the Elvis Presley burger. It has bacon, ham, cheese, onion rings and fries on top of the homemade burger patty, plus the works.
“The Elvis is the owner’s creation,” she said.
It is even possible to enjoy the Elvis Presley burger in the Elvis Presley-decorated booth.
There is also a variety of sandwiches — from egg salad to BLTs, toasted westerns and much more — plus a selection of hot dog creations, a chicken quesadilla, a traditional hot hamburger, a crispy chicken burger, Love Me Tender chicken strips, chicken nuggets, fish and chips, Klondike chili, and more.
From the fryer, there are fresh cut fries, poutine, chili cheese fries and Italian poutine. Appetizers include onion rings, pizza fingers, mushroom caps, deep-fried pickles and cheese sticks.
The Pine Dairy Bar is also creating a buzz in town with its ice cream cakes.
“’There’s about seven pounds of ice cream in a cake,” DeGrammont said. “I weighed it once.”
The ice cream cakes are made in-store from the shop’s famous ice cream. A display freezer is stocked with popular cake flavours like Skor, Brownie Royal, Strawberry Royal, Smarties, Oreo and more. Customers can also custom order an ice cream cake ahead of time.
“We do everything the customer wants,” she said. “If you want, for example, mango ice cream for a cake, we can do it. Usually, it is chocolate and vanilla. But if you want orange, peach or something else, we can do the ice cream for a cake.”
But the Pine Dairy Bar was built on its customers’ love of ice cream. The variety of ice cream treats available is almost endless.
“Soft and hard ice cream, we have both,” DeGrammont said. “It’s endless for the soft ice cream. You can mix the flavours. You can have the chocolate with the coconut. You can have the strawberry with the banana. We have 64 flavours. You can come every day and always have something different. Plus, there are 18 dips.
And now with have the waffle cone, with it dipped in chocolate and added Skor, coconut, peanuts, Smarties or Oreo.
“All the time, we have eight kinds of hard ice cream.”
Milkshakes are a popular treat as well.
“The variety for milkshakes is the same as the soft ice cream,” she said. “Some people even like to mix three flavours. Some people try to do experiments.
“I have a customer who comes every day and gets a milkshake. He says, ‘surprise me now because I’ve tried everything one by one.’ He never has the same one.”
The pandemic was a challenge for the business. Staff are striving to rebuild after COVID.
“We were closed for seating inside for almost two years,” DeGrammont explained. “But we were still able to serve through the walk-up window outside. But not everyone would wait outside in the winter.
“We also had a lot come from offices downtown before COVID. Now, more people are working from home.”
The Pine Dairy Bar will continue to offer delivery and pickup, even with the restaurant seating open.
“Here, if you want something, we try to make it,” she said. “If we have everything, we can do it. That’s the way we work in here. Last week, we had one customer come in and say he was hungry for breakfast (not on the menu). So, we made him bacon and eggs.
“People phone in, come in and eat here. Sometimes, we put it in a take-out container. If they have time, they eat here. If not, they take it out.”
The business is also open in the winter. After all, there is no bad season for ice cream.
“We close for about one month, generally, sometime after the Christmas season,” she said. “Because it’s so cold and we also need some time for ourselves. We don’t yet know when that will be this year.”
Another tradition that dates back to the ’50s is customer service.
“Food, ice cream, they can sit and chat,” DeGrammont said. “We’re good with the customers, which is the most important.
“We have a good time with them. We love our customers.”
The Pine Dairy Bar is located at 141 Pine St. S. in Timmins and can be reached at 705-264-3050. It is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. You can also follow them on Facebook.
